Key takeaways
- Detailed nail art is rising fast, with Pinterest searches for lace nails up 215%.
- Scalp care, grooming and advanced facials are growing in real booking and sales data, not just on social media.
- Pick the trends that suit your clients, then train, add them to your menu, price with confidence and show your work.
Quick answer: The beauty and hair trends to be ready for in 2027 are detailed nail art such as lace, mismatched and dark romantic designs, polished classics like French tips and short bobs, scalp care and head spa rituals, growing demand for grooming, facials built around long term skin health, and treatments that give natural results. Prepare with targeted training, a clear menu, confident pricing and content that shows your work.
Every trend starts somewhere small. A client saves a picture of lace nails on their phone. Someone else searches for a head spa near them and finds nothing within ten miles. A regular asks whether you do anything for their scalp. By the time a look is everywhere, the professionals who saw it coming are already booked up.
So rather than guess, we looked at what the data says people are searching for, saving and booking. Below are the trends building through 2026 that we expect to shape your column in 2027, and what you can do about each one.
Where the data comes from
We have drawn on Pinterest Predicts, which is based on year on year search growth across Pinterest's 600 million monthly users (Professional Beauty); the Fresha Selfcare Report 2025, which draws on a booking platform used by more than 140,000 businesses in over 120 countries (Fresha); Google's spring 2026 search trends (Google); salon sales data from Kline; and the Global Wellness Summit's trends for 2026. Search interest is not the same as bookings, but together they give a clear picture of where demand is heading.
Nail art gets more detailed
Pinterest's predictions put intricate nail work front and centre. Searches for lace nails rose 215%, gothic coffin nails 180%, dragonfly nails 145% and nails with different colours on each hand 125% (Pinterest Predicts via Professional Beauty). Squishy, jelly textures are also on the rise, with jelly blush searches up 130%, which carries over into 3D and glossy nail art.
The classics are not going anywhere either. Google reports that French tips reached an all time high in 2026, with almond the most popular shape alongside them, and that polka dot nails hit a ten year high (Google). Fresha also found that builder gel took a bigger share of nail bookings in every region it tracks.
What to do: book a fine line or advanced nail art class, then build a simple tiered nail art price list so clients know what detail costs. A strong base matters as much as the design, so make sure your gel polish and builder gel services are well explained on your menu.
Polished hair, with a little sparkle
Google's spring 2026 data shows searches for the Italian bob and the bixie reaching record highs, Birkin bangs breaking out, and searches for French pin tutorials rising 145% in a single month. Hair jewellery also hit an all time high, with gold hair clips and hair tinsel among the related searches (Google).
What to do: refresh your skills in short, precise cutting and fringe work, and add styling extras such as accessory placement or an updo finish. Retailing a small edit of clips and pins is an easy add on. Short videos showing how to wear a French pin are exactly the kind of content people are already searching for.
Scalp care and the head spa
Head spa rituals, which combine scalp analysis, cleansing, massage and treatment in a calm setting, have moved from social media curiosity to real bookings. Kline's US salon data shows scalp treatment service sales grew 9% in the first three quarters of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024, with an average price of just over $40 against almost $36 for other salon hair treatments (Kline). Scalp treatments still made up only around 0.1% of salon services, which tells you how early this opportunity is.
The Global Wellness Summit also lists hair longevity, with a focus on scalp health, within its skin longevity trend for 2026 (Global Wellness Summit).
What to do: train in scalp analysis and massage, create a quiet space with low light and calm music, and price the service as the full experience it is. Keep it within your scope: if a client mentions hair loss or a scalp condition, refer them to their doctor, a dermatologist or a trichologist.
Grooming keeps growing
Grooming is one of the fastest growing areas in Fresha's data. Between January 2023 and November 2025, grooming haircut bookings on the platform rose 87%, beard trims 246% and shaves around 99% (Fresha).
What to do: offer short express slots for beard and brow tidies, add facials and hand treatments to a grooming menu, and use inclusive wording and images so everyone feels the service is for them. Waxing is a natural partner here, so take a look at our waxing guide.
Skin longevity and smarter facials
The Global Wellness Summit says skin longevity is replacing the old anti ageing story, with the focus moving to keeping skin healthy, resilient and working well for the long term, supported by better skin diagnostics and regenerative treatments (Global Wellness Summit). Clients are already moving this way. Fresha found that advanced facials, including LED, microdermabrasion and chemical peels, made up 17% to 26% of all facial bookings in 2025 depending on region, and global searches for acne treatment rose 33% over the year (Fresha).
What to do: offer a skin consultation as the first step, then sell courses and programmes rather than single treatments. Talk about skin health, comfort and confidence. Our guides to facials, LED light therapy and skin peels are useful to share with clients. Work within your training, and signpost clients to a medical professional for any skin condition that needs a diagnosis.
Natural results win
Clients want to look like themselves, only fresher. In Allergan Aesthetics' qualitative research, 75% of practitioners said their patients want to look natural (Allergan Aesthetics). That mindset reaches well beyond aesthetic medicine. It shapes how clients choose brows, lashes, colour and nails too.
What to do: take time in consultation, use reference photos, and agree the finish before you start. Treatments such as a lash lift and brow lamination fit this mood perfectly. If you work in aesthetics, make sure your qualifications and insurance cover every treatment you offer.
Touch, calm and scent
Massage accounted for more than 90% of wellness bookings on Fresha in 2025, and sculpting and drainage services such as lymphatic drainage made up over half of the remaining wellness bookings (Fresha). The Global Wellness Summit also points to nervous system calm, pleasure and low tech care as key themes, alongside fragrance layering. Pinterest saw searches for niche perfume collections rise 500% and perfume layering combinations 125% (Professional Beauty).
What to do: build calm into every treatment, from lighting to the pace of your welcome. Consider a signature scent for your space, and look at holistic services such as reflexology and aromatherapy if they suit your clients.
Turning trends into bookings
You do not need to chase every trend. Pick the two or three that fit your clients and your skills, then work through four steps:
- Training: book a course or a class at a trade show. Shows are one of the best ways to learn several new techniques in a single trip.
- Menu: give each new service a clear name, a short description and a time.
- Pricing: price for your skill, product and time, not just the trend. Our guide to why beauty business owners undercharge can help.
- Marketing: show the work. Photos, short videos and simple explanations of who each treatment is for will do more than any slogan.
FAQs
What nail trends will be popular in 2027?
Expect detailed designs such as lace, dragonfly and mismatched nails, glossy jelly textures and dark romantic shades, alongside classic French tips on an almond shape.
What is a head spa treatment?
A head spa is a relaxing scalp ritual that usually combines scalp analysis, deep cleansing, massage and a treatment, often in a quiet, low lit room.
What does skin longevity mean?
It means caring for skin so it stays healthy and resilient over time, rather than focusing only on reversing visible signs of ageing.
How can I learn new beauty techniques for 2027?
Accredited courses and trade show education are the quickest routes. Many shows offer dozens of classes across a weekend.
Get ahead for 2027
The best way to get ready is to learn from the people creating these looks. You can find industry events in 25 countries on The Hair and Beauty Directory and plan your training for the year ahead. Adding new services and need an extra pair of hands? We help you find staff too.
